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{ llattle of Santiago 






THE ANNIHILATION OF 
CERVERAS FLEET 







U. S. BATTLESHIP "TEXAS" 

The Martyr to Modern Experimental Gun Test 



BY. 



i 

• • 

' TLe CLaplain of the "Texas" During Our A^ar * 

A A^' itn Spain ^ 

? • 

^ $ 




THE AUTHOR. 
When Chaplain of the "Texas.' 



Cfje pattle of Santiago 

On board tKe U. S. BattlesKi'p "Texas," 
Captain Jack PKilip, U. S. Navy, commanding. 



A vivid description of tne Naval 
Battle orf Santiago de Cuba, July 
3rd, 1898. A portrayal of tKe 
destruction or Cervera's Fleet by 
one who \vas in it, and wno 
no-w in this narrative endeavors to 
place before the public a faithful 
account or the events occurring 
on that ever memorable day. :: :: 



By Harry W. Jones, A.M., D.D. 

Former Chaplain of the Battleship "Texas" 

AUTHOR OF 

'A Chaplain s Experience Ashore and Afloat 

" Woman s Piety and Its Beauty" 

' ihe Ideal Woman" 

"The Model Woman," etc. 



Copyright, 1913 

BY 

Harry W. Jones, A.M., D.D. 



All rights reserved. 



Published, April, 1913. 



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In perpetuam rei memoriam 




THE LATE REAR-ADMIRAL W. T. SAMPSON, U. S. N. 

When Commander-in-Chief U. S. Naval Force, North Atlantic 
Station. 



liattle of Santiago 

THE ANNIHILATION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 



ON June 22d, 1898, the day our army was 
landed at Daiquiri, Admiral Sampson 
sent around a general order, which 
closed as follows : "The attention of Command- 
ing Officers of all vessels engaged in blockading 
Santiago de Cuba is earnestly called to the neces- 
sity of the utmost vigilance from this time for- 
ward, both as to maintaining stations and readi- 
ness for action and as to keeping a close watch 
upon the harbor mouth. If the Spanish Admiral 
ever intends to escape, that attempt will be 
made soon." Sunday morning, July 3d, was a 
day hard to be beaten, even in that sunlit country 
of Cuba. About eight o'clock, Surgeon Du Bose, 
U. S. N., came to my room to examine me, I 
having been wounded in action the day before. 
My temperature had been taken, when a mes- 
senger boy came down from the bridge, with a 
message from Lieutenant Bristol, Officer of the 
Deck, asking whether I would conduct divine 
service that morning. I sent back this answer: 
"The Chaplain's compliments to Lieutenant Bris- 
tol; he does not believe he is strong enough to 
hold service; anyway, he cannot, as he is on the 

II 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO 

sick list." This was the first time I had to say 
"No" about holding service since I had been on 
board. 

At nine o'clock, Captain Philip came to my 
room and asked how I was getting along. His 
good-natured face, with the smile it always bore, 
cheered me exceedingly. Then, in his jocular 
manner, he said: "Well, Chaplain, I guess you 
want to go out on a farm." I said : "No, sir, I 
do not." "No!" said he; "You want to go home, 
then." I replied : "Yes, Captain ; if I'm going to 
be laid up I want to go home, as I do not care to 
be ill down here, but do not wish to appear as 
shirking my duty." "Let us wait and see how 
you are later on in the day," said the Captain, 
and, with a word of cheer, he bade me adieu. 

At 9 :30 the doctor returned, in company with 
the apothecary, who had brought some medicine 
for me. As they were standing by the side of my 
bunk. Lieutenant F. L. Haesler, U. S. N., came 
below, exclaiming: "They are coming out, fel- 
lows!" Just then the general alarm rang, and 
the doctor left, after telling me I had better try 
to get up. Getting out of my bunk, I put my uni- 
form on as quickly as possible, as I was still 
very weak, and could scarcely get around. One 
of our young officers, whom we nicknamed 
Handsome Willie, was in the barber's chair, get- 
ting his whiskers trimmed, when the bell rang; 

12 




THE LATE REAR-ADMIRAL J. W. PPIILIP, U. S. N. 
When commanding the U. S. Battleship "Texas." 



ANNIHILATION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 

he had a beautiful auburn crop, which had be- 
come too bushy to suit him in that hot climate, so 
he decided upon the Van Dyke style. The ton- 
sorial artist was cutting away, and had finished 
trimming one side (the starboard) down to per- 
fection. Suddenly the alarm sounded, and, with- 
out waiting a moment, our handsome shipmate, 
leaping out of the chair, hurried to his station 
with a decided list to port so far as his whiskers 
were concerned ; there was no list about his sight, 
however, when the firing commenced. As the 
magazines were opened, the men slid down the 
hawsers like so many monkeys sliding down a 
pole; so active and anxious were they to be 
ready for the fight. The first twelve-inch shell 
that came up was for Lieutenant Haesler's gun, 
on which the men had inscribed with chalk, 
down in the magazine : 

"In God we trust, 

This shell will bust, 
And blow the Dagoes 
Into dust." 

"In memory of the 'Maine,' from her beloved 
sister ship, the Texas,' ofif Santiago de Cuba, 
July 3d, 1898." 

After I had completed dressing, which was 
simply the putting of my white duck uniform over 

15 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO . 

my pajamas, which I had not time to take off, I 
went aft, and, looking out at a gmi port, saw at 
that moment what seemed to be the largest ships 
I had ever seen — Gervera's magnificent ships 
-of war. The cruiser "Infanta Maria Teresa," 
.Cervera's flagship, was in plain view, coming 
around Smith Cay in front of the Punta Gorda 
.battery. From our signal halyards flew the 
flags representing general signal No. 250: ''The 
enemy is attempting to escape." 

Lieutenant Mark L. Bristol had the bridge, 
and the order had gone down to the men in the 
engine room: "Full speed ahead!" and the dear 
old "Texas," the mighty black bulldog of war 
'that she ivas, rushed on to meet the foe. and 
was churning a white wake before the first black 
prow of Cervera's Squadron had fairly showed 
around Puntilla. Notwithstanding the long, 
tedious waiting for the Spanish Admiral to come 
out, Admiral Sampson's orders haci been faith- 
fully obeyed, and the blockade was conducted 
with a success exemplified only by the result. 
Within three minutes of the time when the alarm 
was given, the "Texas" was under way, at full 
speed, firing, every man at his post, What 
greater perfection can be demanded?- On each 
side of the "Texas," the "Brooklyn," on our 
port, and the "Iowa," on our starboard side, were 
coming up with "a tremendous rush. Tlie daSh 

16 




THE LATE REARADxMIRAL PASQUAL CERVEKA. 
When Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Fleet. 



ANNIHILATION OF CERV ERA'S FLEET 

they made for the enemy, with the water pouring 
over their bows, was beautiful beyond descrip- 
tion. Farther east were the "Oregon" and the 
"Indiana," also headed in, ready for business. 
As soon as our Captain reached the bridge, 
Lieutenant Bristol hastened to his post at the 
port twelve-inch turret gun. Captain Philip 
saw at a glance that the purpose of Cervera was 
to run his ships in column westward in his effort 
to escape between the "Brooklyn" and the shore 
before our heavier ships could come up to stop 
him. Cervera miscalculated his speed, as well as 
the speed of our battleships, also had very little 
conception of the deadly accuracy of the aim 
of the men behind the American guns at long 
range, as before he had found himself fairly out- 
side of the Morro, our whole Squadron — "Ore- 
gon," "Indiana," "Iowa," "Brooklyn" and 
"Texas" — was after him, and the way the shells 
were fired into him virtually decided the issue 
of the battle in a very few moments. 

It was exactly 9:40 a.m. when a great puff of 
smoke came from the forward eleven-inch gun 
of the "Infanta Maria Teresa," the shell drop- 
ping short, but right in line with us. I remem- 
bered what Captain Philip so often had said 
about the War of the Rebellion, which he was in, 
claiming that whichever side opened fire on the 
Sabbath was always defeated, so I felt rejoiced 

i9 



BATTLE 0.F SANTIAGO 

that the (enemy had fired the first shot. I really . 
beljeve Iwas a little superstitious just then. The 
battle was now raging in deadly earnest. Shot 
after shot was fired at the various ships. The 
"Infanta Maria Teresa," being in the lead, re- 
ceived the concentrated fire of our ships for 
some time^ Then the two torpedo boats rushed 
out of the harbor, and the shout went along our 
deck: "Two torpedo boats, sir, in our smoke!" 
Our hearts seemed to stop beating, as the de- 
stroyers were . the instruments of death we 
dreaded most; but, to our surprise, instead of 
heading for us, they rushed on like two race 
horses, eager to get between their ships and the- 
shpxei, each trying to outpoint the other. 

Knowing what these swift little crafts were 
capable of accomplishing, all the ships poured a 
deadly fire right in on them, and I think all took 
a turn in the: annihilation of them; but a great 
deal of the credit of their destruction is due to the 
unprotected auxiliary Cruiser, "Gloucester," 
commanded by Commander Richard Wainwright, 
who was the Executive Officer of the "Maine" 
when ■that vessel blew up in the harbor of 
Havana; and surely he remembered his beloved 
ship and her gallant men that morning. She 
made a very plucky fight, rushed in and, at 
close range, poured shot after shot into the 
"Pluton" and the "Furor." The "Pluton" was 

20 1 



ANNIHILATION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 

run on the rocks, after being disabled, and very 
soon blew up. The "Furor" sank in deep water a 
few minutes later; this was at 10:30. 

The ''Texas" had been hit a few minutes before 
this, right in the smoke stack; and here again is 
shown the hand of Providence directing our be- 
loved Captain. The firing from the enemy's ships 
had become very general, shells were whistling 
around our bridge, and the Captain said to the 
officers up there with him : "We had better go 
down to the lower bridge." Going down the only 
remaining ladder for them to descend, they "had 
just stepped off it, when crash went a shell, right 
into the pilot house where they were standing 
only a moment before. Had they not left when 
they did, one or more of them would probably 
have been killed. We were then rushing on in 
the thick of the fight, firing whole broadsides 
as fast as our men could load the guns, and the 
roar of our great guns was deafening. Sud- 
dently our navigator, Lieutenant Heilner, hap- 
pened to remark that the Spanish cruisers had 
plenty of colors flying, and they wanted us to 
believe they meant business, whether they did 
or not, as their great yellow and red flags were 
flying at the mastheads fore and aft. This caused 
him to look aloft and say : "Why, where are our 
battle flags? What is a battle without battle 
flags ?" He then hurried a messenger after them. 

23 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO ' 

The messenger returned with the information 
that the flags were in the locker and that the 
Chief Quartermaster had the key. The Signal 
Quartermaster just then was" very busy, a;nd 
somewhat inaccessible, being at his post of duty 
in the fore upper top. Then the navigator said : 
"Smash the locker.'' This being done, we were 
furnished with the battle flags ; up they went, but 
I don't believe the old "Texas" fought any better 
after that, though doubtless it made the Lieute- 
nant very much happier. "Captain," he said, 
"those fellows got enough battleflags up, but I 
guess they have their white anes ready for an 
emergency." 

The smoke was dense around us at this time, 
and we could not see very far ahead. The shells 
were screeching like so many screech owls above 
us, and yet our brave, noble and heroic Captain 
stood on the lower bridge, never flinching in 
this, his hour of danger. As the "Texas" veered 
westward, the "Brooklyn" was plowing up the 
water at a great rate in a course almost due north, 
direct for the oncoming Spanish ships, and was 
nearly a mile away from the "Texas." The smoke 
from our guns just then began to hang heavily 
and densely over the ship for a few moments, but 
it seemed more like an hour that we were hidden 
in this cloud, as it hovered over the waters. To 
use the Captain's own language : "I might as 

24 




THE LATE 

REAR-ADMIRAL WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY, U. S. N. 

When Commander-in-Chief Flying Squadron. 

U. S. S. "Brooklyn," Flagship. 



ANNIHILATION OF CERV ERA'S FLEET 

well have had a blanket tied over my head 
as to be there with the smoke completely blinding 
me" ; but suddenly a whiff of the breeze and a 
lull in the firing lifted the pall, and there, bearing 
toward us and across our bow, turning on her 
port helm, with big waves crawling over her 
bows, great clouds of black smoke pouring from 
her funnels, was the "Brooklyn," she having 
passed astern of us during the firing, but was 
now headed out. She looked as big as half a 
dozen "Great Easterns" and seemed so near that 
it took my breath away. "Back both engines 
hard !" the indicators registered down in our 
engine room; and in the twinkling of an eye 
the old "Texas," that never refused to obey either 
her engines or her helm, was racing against 
herself, and by this cool level-headedness and 
seamanlike ability on the part of our Command- 
ing Officer the collision, which seemed inevitable, 
was averted. And as the big cruiser went rush- 
ing by us, all on the bridge with the Captain 
gave a sigh of relief; for had the "Brooklyn" 
struck us then, the "Texas," in all probability, 
would have sunk with her five hundred men on 
board, and if the "Texas" had collided with the 
"Brooklyn," her fate would have been almost as 
disastrous, as she would have doubled up like a 
hoop, not having been built for ramming. This 
happened shortly after we commenced the fight, 

27 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO 

and just before the torpedo boats were de- 
stroyed. 

We again began to exchange compHments with 
the "Infanta Maria Teresa," who was firing at 
us as rapidly as she could, but the aiming of her 
men was exceedingly poor. At last she was 
forced to surrender; and at 10:35 h^r white flag 
went up, as the yellow and the red came down. 
The flames were roaring out of every side of her. 
and curling up twice as high as her mast, and 
we heard the crackling of the timber as it burned 
so fiercely on that ship, then a wreck, which only 
a few moments before was as magnificent a look- 
ing ship as ever sailed the Caribbean Sea. Just 
three minutes after the "Infanta Maria Teresa" 
went on shore the "Oquendo" had to follow her 
example,' aiid, 'hauling down her colors, hoisted 
the white flag. This caused our men to feel 
elated, and they were in the act of cheering, 
when our Captain, a perfect man in battle, 
yet as soft-hearted as a child when it was neces- 
sary, surmised what their intentions were, so, 
lifting both hands in the air, he stamped on 
the bridge, and, shouting at the men, said: "Don't 
cheer, boys; those poor devils are dying!" knd it 
is needless to say they didn't. 

The "Oregon," when the fight commenced, was 
the farthest away, l3ut almost as soon as tlie bat- 
tle commenced she was the leading ship. The 

28 



ANNIHILATION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 

"Brooklyn," the "Iowa" and the "Indiana," as 
well as the "Texas," had all assisted in the de- 
struction of these two ships, the pride of the 
Spanish nation. 

The "Vizcaya," in command of Captain 
Eulate, was then the only ship remaining for us 
to engage in that immediate vicinity, as the 
"Cristobal Colon" had passed her and was 
headed up the coast. We put a regular torrent 
of shells into the "Vizcaya." The "Brooklyn" 
was abeam of her, about two miles outside ; the 
"Oregon" was nearly abeam, half a mile fur- 
ther in shore; and the "Texas" was on the star- 
board quarter of the "Oregon" and about a mile 
astern of her. All three were- steering parallel 
courses to the westward. We were all firing 
at her, but her crew, with a most striking and 
persistent tenacity, remained by their guns, until 
finally she, too, had to head for the beach, where 
she was hard and fast at 1 1 105. At 1 1 130, a 
terrific explosion took place on board, as the first 
of her magazines blew up, tearing a hole in her 
large enough for a furniture van to go through 
with the greatest ease. 

Then began the chase of the "Cristobal Colon," 
which ship was then about six miles ahead of 
us. The "Brooklyn" and the "Oregon" started 
in pursuit, and our Captain, fearing something 
might happen to the "Oregon," and knowing the 

31 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO 

"Cristobal Colon" to be the supposed superior 
ship of the two, as compared with the "Brook- 
lyn," considered it his duty to force his engines 
and join the race, and in a very little while our 
ship was making as fine speed as she had ever 
made since her trial trip. The men in the engine 
rooms had been on duty for several hours; one 
watch should have come off duty when the battle 
commenced, having been on four hours previ- 
ous to that time, and as it was now nearing noon, 
they had been in the trying fire-room for seven 
hours. The Marine Guard was in charge of the 
secondary battery, and, their guns not being in 
service at this time, as the "Cristobal Colon" was 
out of range, asked Lieutenant Radford, their 
Commanding Officer, to obtain the Captain's per- 
mission to allow them to go down and relieve 
the firemen. The permission was granted, and 
the marines- went below ; but, as they entered 
the fire-room, those lusty fellows down there told 
them to get out of that and go back on deck 
where they belonged; as it was their duty to be 
in the fire-room, as firemen of the ship, and sup- 
ply the fuel in time of action, and that duty they 
would do, or die ; and it is remarkable to relate 
that, notwithstanding that exceedingly trying ex- 
perience, with a temperature of 127 degrees the 
greater part of the time, not one of those men 
was overcome by the heat. 

32 



ANNIHILATION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 

At 12 45 the "Oregon" sent a shell after the 
"Cristobal Colon," to let her know that we were 
still pursuing. Finally she was hemmed in on 
all sides, and at 1:15 ran down her colors, as 
her Commanding Officer beached her. We sig- 
nalled : "Enemy has surrendered." The signal 
was repeated by the "Vixen," then coming up 
behind us, to the "New York," about a mile 
astern of us at that time, but was not acknowl- 
edged. As the "Oregon" closed in, her band 
was playing "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old 
Town To-night." All the Spanish crew was on 
the deck of the "Cristobal Colon" ; the men on 
the "Brooklyn" were shouting and cheering. 
Our Commanding Officer came from the bridge ; 
all hands were on the quarter deck, as we were 
then with our stern toward the enemy. Look- 
ing over toward that ship, the last of the enemy 
to go ashore, it was a beautiful picture. Had 
her Commanding Officer spent weeks in select- 
ing a place to beach his ship, he could not have 
found a more picturesque place than where he 
ran her aground. Off her starboard beam was 
the only green field that I had seen all the time 
we had been reconnoitering off the coast of Cuba, 
this served as a kind of background for the pic- 
ture. Surrounding this field were the lofty pine 
and palm trees waving in the breeze. 

As our Captain came toward us he uncovered 

35 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO 

his noble brow, looking at his men, said: "Men, 
I have always had implicit confidence in the 
'Texas,' my officers, and my crew, but my great- 
est confidence has been and is in Almighty God, 
and I wish to make public acknowledgment, here 
to-day, of my belief in prayer; and I ask every 
man who has no religious scruples to uncover 
his head with me, and silently thank God for our 
deliverance and for the victory He has given us." 
There they stood, stripped to the waist, blood 
trickling from their strained muscles, their bodies 
stained from the powder, the coal dust and smoke 
of the fire-room, but from the heart of every 
one of us that beautiful Sabbath morning went 
up the most fervent prayer that ever left the 
heart of man, as we thanked God for the victory 
He had given us and for our miraculous escape. 
The Captain did not know I was on deck until 
after he had spoken, when he suddenly espied 
me standing on the starboard side, so sending an 
officer over, apologized for depriving me of the 
privilege of performing my duty of offering the 
prayer. Crossing the deck, I went up to the 
Captain, and taking him by the hand, said : "Cap- 
tain, I am very glad, sir, you did not know I 
was on deck, for by this act of yours you have 
proven that you are the kind of man I always 
believed you were — a man who has faith in 
prayer." Later on, the Executive Officer came 

36 



ANNIHILATION OF CERV ERA'S FLEET 

to me and said : "Cliaplain, did you hear those 
remarks of the Commanding Officer?" I said: 
"Yes, sir." He said: "That was the most manly 
act I have ever witnessed iu my Hfe." 

Just then the "New. York" and "Vixen" 
came up as Commodore Schley came along- 
side our ship in his barge. Calling to Captain 
Philip he said: "We have no Chaplain on the 
'Brooklyn'; we want to borrow yours. As he 
buried our first dead in Cuban soil, I want him 
to go with us to Guantanamo and bury Yeo- 
man Ellis, who was killed. Looking at the Cap- 
tain, I said : "Captain, I have your permission, 
sir?" He said: "Yes." And I started to leave 
the ship. The Austrian man-of-war, "Kaiserin 
Maria Theresia," supposed then to be a Spanish 
ship coming to the aid of Admiral Cervera, had 
been sighted, so Admiral Sampson ordered Com- 
modore Schley, with the "Brooklyn" and "Ore- 
gon," to go after her and destroy her. Expect- 
ing the ships would soon be in action, our doc- 
tor came up to Captain Philip and said : "Don't 
you allow the Chaplain to go. sir." I said, "Cap- 
tain, oh, please let me go, sir!" He said: 
"No, sir; I had forgotten you were ill." So 
he called down to Commodore Schley : "Our 
Chaplain is too ill to leave the ship; he has been 
attacked with hemorrhages ; I am sorry, but it 
cannot be helped." The Commodore returned 

39 



APR 25 1913 



BATTLE OF SANTIAGO 

to his ship, and one of the burly fellows on our 
deck shouted out : "Let us give three cheers for 
Captain Jack Philip !" And they were given with 
a vengeance. The old "Texas" fairly shook as 
the men cheered Captain Philip, the hero who 
had that day led them to victory — a hero who, 
for the stand he had taken on deck, would, we 
knew, be admired by the whole Christian world. 

\Ve remained by the "Cristobal Colon" that 
night. In the morning, when I went on deck, 1 
was saddened to see that that noble ship had cap- 
sized and was lying on her starboard side, her 
port guns pointing at the skies. We started for 
Santiago, which was forty-eight miles distant, 
and on our way thither passed several dead 
Spaniards who had been drowned or killed ; some 
of them floating with their heads, hands and feet 
down, and a life belt around their waist, which 
had slipped down, causing them to drown. We 
reached Santiago just at noon. The battle flags 
went up as we formed the usual blockading 
semi-circle. Three or four foreign battleships 
had come in, the Austrian that created such a 
stir the day before, an Englishman, and a Portu- 
guese. We fired the national salute in honor of 
our Fourth of July, and it was a grand and fit- 
ting termination of that most glorious naval 
victory. 



40 




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